The mission of Prognosis is to explore the nexus at which healthcare policy meets healthcare practice and how one affects the other. This blog makes readers more aware of the innovations taking place in healthcare delivery, financing and technology and the types of public policies that will encourage further progress.

Healthcare In Focus is a public education initiative of the HLC, created to promote a constructive dialogue about the state and future of American healthcare.

There has been much ado made this week over the one year anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act. And, just as was the case a year ago, controversy continues to rage over health reform. Polls show the public continues to be divided on the issue and Congress is in a partisan deadlock over what the next steps should be in, depending on your point of view, ACA implementation, repeal or defunding.

This post isn’t about the controversy or the debate.

Instead, I want to call attention to one of the indisputably positive provisions of the health reform measure. This week, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), created through the Affordable Care Act, launched its new website. It’s more than just an informational site. In fact, it’s a portal through which all participants in the healthcare system can submit ideas on how to improve U.S. healthcare to improve both quality and cost-effectiveness. That’s the purpose of CMMI — to test new ideas aimed at providing better patient care in a more sustainable way. It’s one of the aspects of health reform that, I believe, should be preserved and utilized to the fullest extent.

In fact, members of the Healthcare Leadership Council have already provided several examples of practices, tools and technologies that are, in fact, addressing both the quality and affordability of care. We provided these to CMS administrator Don Berwick in the form of our HLC Value Compendium. We’re working on an expanded volume of that compendium now with more metrics-supported case studies, as well as a Wellness Compendium with information on how HLC member companies and organizations are promoting better health and preventing disease.

The controversy over health reform will undoubtedly continue to rage on for some time. Let’s just keep the quest for ideas on how to improve our healthcare system outside of the firing zone.

According to a Department of Health and Human Services press release issued this week, nearly 4 million Medicare beneficiaries have received help with their prescription drug costs through the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Beginning in 2011, biopharmaceutical research companies will provide Medicare Part D beneficiaries that reach the donut hole a 50 percent discount on their brand-name drugs. According to CMS, this will provide a cumulative $2 billion savings for enrollees this year.

In a statement today, Secretary Sebelius, announced that a similar number of Medicare beneficiaries are likely to enter the coverage gap in 2011 and will benefit from these ACA provisions that work to reduce and close the donut hole by 2020.

As I have said many times in this space, HLC has learned through its Medicare Today efforts that Part D has shown us that a public-private partnership can achieve a program that earns high approval among beneficiaries and continues to be a success story.

Some may be surprised that a state with strong Democratic leanings would be proposing a serious tort reform measure, but New York has strong motivation to do so. The state’s Medicaid program is in a state of crisis, with projections showing that it will account for over half of New York’s budget by 2020. The governor’s medical liability recommendations would bring $700 million in Medicaid savings.

Plus, malpractice insurance rates in New York are unacceptably high. New York hospitals are paying more than $1.5 billion in combined litigation-related expenses and soaring premiums threaten to make specialists like obstetricians and neurologists hard to find for New York patients.

This will be a gloves-off political brawl. The American Medical Association has backed the governor’s measure. The state’s trial bar association vigorously opposes it. Republicans control the state Senate and have backed the liability reform proposal. The Democratically-controlled state assembly has already dismissed the non-economic damages cap.

Let’s hope Governor Cuomo stands firm for his proposal. New York and the nation need this important and essential progress.

As we do every Friday, here are some of the more interesting, and important, healthcare stories of the week that may not have caught your attention:

• In the effort to cut federal spending, the Center for Public Integrity reports that a target has been place on unspent economic stimulus dollars, including the funding dedicated to expansion of health information technology.